Heterogeneity in Survey Response According to Gender: A Survey Experiment in Rural India

Abstract

Eliciting information from household surveys is important in order to better target social policies. In the presence of heterogeneity in answers between couples regarding issues related to household members’ welfare, policies intended to benefit some members, for example, gender targeted policies, may end up being ineffective. Our survey experiment varies the respondent (husband, wife or couple) randomly to an extensive household survey conducted in rural India. We found stark differences between respondents with respect to several household decisions, with women’s answers being significantly different to men’s and couple’s answers, which were similar.